Domestic airlines ‘misusing’ FDTL waivers, implement full norms: pilots’ body ALPA-India

Seeking full implementation of the latest flight duty and rest period norms for the cockpit crew, pilots’ body ALPA India on Thursday alleged that the “incomplete” rollout and unwarranted dispensations given by the safety regulator DGCA to the domestic carriers are being used by them as a “loophole” to bypass essential fatigue-mitigation measures.

In a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airlines Pilots Association-India (ALPA) also urged the DGCA to prevent airline operators from altering or reinterpreting the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), under which the latest Flight Duty Limitation Norms have come into force, for commercial convenience.